Will Change Ever Come?

A response to Sam Cook’s ‘A Change Is Gonna Come.’

Dear Samuel,

It has been almost sixty years since your ballad pierced our souls.

Sixty years have passed since you released your heart into musical notes.

We wish we could sing your ballad at a different tempo.

Sadly, the tune of 1964 is still the same today.

The running continues, and the hearts are weary.

Like a time bomb, the black man morbidly thinks he will be next.

People are now more afraid to live and more willing to die.

Even willing to die at their own hands rather than face the beast of supremacy.

We wish we could sing lively tunes and dance freely in the streets.

But fear continues to obliterate our existence.

The fear of driving down the street or making the wrong turn

The fear of saying hello may be the day we say our goodbyes.

Yes, it is still hard to live, and we are devastated continually.

The change we hope for and the transformation you sang about so somberly

Eludes us like an insomniac hoping for sleep after midnight.

The horizon is still hazy, and our visions are cloudy as we look for the light promised at the end of the tunnel.

We still cling to hope beyond the sky.

We believe that change will come, but maybe not in this lifetime.

But in the one to come, while it may seem like forever and a day,

We know change will come. Yes, it will.

Sincerely